Snow, Hot Chocolate and Needle Trees
by Akeppi
Summary: We wandered around, Sakon watching me look around the village in wonder. It had been years since I had been able to be somewhere without hiding or having to possibly kill someone. We could just be ourselves, with no fear of someone recognizing us as one of Lord Orochimaru's. It was freeing. Sakon was so sweet doing this for me. (Christmas oneshot, Tayuya x Sakon)


Okay. I know this is not where I normally write, but I do **not** want Lord Orochimaru to find this. Or that four eyed bastard Kabuto. God, if four eyes manages to find this, I'll never hear the end of it! I don't want either of those assholes seeing this because it's...ugh, it's going to be so cheesy and sappy and lovey dovey, and it's not at all what I usually write. You know what though? I don't care. I love this memory anyway. And, with it being that Christmas thing and all that you people here celebrate, I thought I'd share something less depressing and a little more...merry.

It all started with that hellhole that is O-I'm sorry, **Lord** Orochimaru's hideout. I was up on the roof, as per usual. The cold breeze felt so good compared to the suffocating air inside. I had never liked being indoors before, but this place was on a whole different level of uncomfortable for me. I hated it so much, and there was only one reason I was still here in the first place. Said reason came up and sat next to me, as if my thinking about him summoned him. "Hey, cutie," Sakon whispered with a subtle wink that really wasn't subtle. At all.

"Again, you suck at flirting," I said.

"And again, at least I'm trying!" he said with a sad look on his face.

Turning around to fully face him, I hesitantly caressed his face. I still wasn't used to this whole love thing. Guess that made two of us. "I know, I know." I laughed as he turned away, knowing he was hiding a blush...a blush I felt was so cute. _Oh god, where is my mind going?_ "So why are you here?" I asked, trying to get my mind back on track.

"Oh!" He looked at me, the blush fading slightly. Why did I find myself wanting to make him blush again? "I thought we could run off for a few days. No one will notice."

"Yeah, because **nobody** will notice that the rudest, foulest loudmouth in this place is gone. Totally." What? Sure, I may have...well, you know, liked him, but that didn't make it any less true. Considering how often I tried to piss everyone else off, someone would have to be a complete moron to not notice my disappearance.

"Since when did you care?"

I shrugged. He had me there. "You know what, since never. Let's do it. Why the fuck not?"

He grinned happily, wrapping his arms around me. "That's my girl!"

"Get off me!" I yelled, shoving him off me. I instantly regretted it, but I still wasn't too comfortable with physical contact of any kind. The constant punishments for my disrespectful attitude had made me afraid of anyone touching me, even if it was meant to be gentle like this one. "Sorry. Go on, lead the way, my precious muff muff," I cooed, grinning from ear to ear. God, what was wrong with me? I guess it was worth his face turning red from embarrassment. He's so cute when he's embarrassed!

...there really is something wrong with me.

I wasn't even sure where he was taking us, but anywhere was better than a place with either four eyes or snake eyes. It took about a day to get to the little village he was apparently taking me to. Before we got there, we got different clothes more suited for the chillier weather, also feeling that our current outfits would be too noticeable. Okay, fine, we stole them, but they wouldn't miss them. I had no idea what was so important about this tiny village, but I wasn't complaining. All I cared about was that I was with my muff muff.

There were these weird looking trees surrounding the village. Instead of leaves, they had these long, thin green things sticking out of the branches. When I asked Sakon about it, he told me that they were leaves called needles. Fitting, as they were pointy to the touch. After poking them for at least a minute, I finally turned my attention back to Sakon. He looked amused at my childish antics. Sticking my tongue out at him, I followed him away from the funny needle trees, looking around warily. "Do you know this place?" I asked as we passed the first buildings.

"Sort of. Before our parents died, they took Ukon and me up here one year. You're gonna love it, trust me."

It was only at mention of his brother that I realized Ukon, who was normally sleeping in Sakon's body, was nowhere to be found. "Where's Ukon?"

"He left me to be with you."

"And he was okay with it?"

"Of course."

I turned my head away, pretending to look at another of the buildings. In truth, I was hiding the blush starting to form on my face. For once, we were truly alone, with no assholes to fuck things up for us. Not that Ukon was an ass. He's actually kind of nice, at least he was the few times he's actually woken up.

We wandered around, Sakon watching me look around in wonder. It had been years since I had been able to be somewhere without hiding or having to possibly kill someone. We could just be ourselves, with no fear of someone recognizing us as one of Lord Orochimaru's. It was freeing.

"What are you looking at?" Sakon asked as I stopped at one of the shops.

I didn't respond, staring at the flute. I didn't even need to play a note out of it to know it was better quality than my old flute. He came up beside me, looked at it for all of a second, and then proceeded to buy it for me. "You didn't have to do that," I told him after he gave it to me.

"I know, but I did it anyway because it would make you happy," he responded with a grin.

"Oh, shut up," I muttered, trying to hold in my laughter. He really could be such a sweetheart when he tried. It made me wonder what he would be like if it weren't for Lord Orochimaru's influence on him. Granted, I hadn't changed much from the curse seal, but I had already been a bitch when that happened. Could he have been sweet all the time?

I sighed wistfully, wishing for things that could never be. This didn't go unnoticed by Sakon. "You okay?" he asked, worried.

"I'm fine. Just some stupid thoughts," I said before asking, "Why are you doing this?"

He looked confused at the question. "You're just always so...tense and irritable."

"Well, that's flattering," I interrupted.

He looked flustered as he continued. "That's not what I meant! I know how much you hate being near Lord Orochimaru or Kabuto. So I thought I'd bring you up here for a break away from them. I wanted to make you happy."

I smiled. Sakon was so sweet. I started feeling a rather odd urge, though my mind shoved it away before I could begin to realize what it was. "Thanks. Really. This is so nice."

"We still have a lot of time. Come on. I know this nice little place where we can get something to eat and drink." He took my hand and led me through the village. At first, I flinched, but I forced myself to not shove him away again. Once I got over my initial panic, I found that I actually liked him holding my hand. I didn't want him to let go, but eventually he had to when we got there. He ordered the drinks, knowing exactly what to get.

"What the hell is this?" I asked as I stared down at the brown drink in front of me, poking one of the fluffy white things that were floating in it.

"It's hot chocolate!" he said, already drinking his own. "Come on, try it! I know you'll love it!"

I rolled my eyes. "Why does everyone think they know me so damn well?" I groaned. I eyed it warily for another moment before putting the drink to my lips. Well, if it was poisoned or some shit, at least I would be dead and not have to serve Lord Orochimaru anymore. It was a win-win situation I could live with. I took a sip and realized this hot chocolate thing was actually quite delicious. Shocked, I gasped. "Oh my god. This is great!"

"I told you." I looked up from liquid heaven to see a smirk on his face. I nearly dropped the mug from my sudden terror. He stopped, taking the mug from me and putting it back on the table. "What's wrong?" he asked, looking scared himself. He pulled me into a hug. This time, it made me feel safe, like neither Lord Orochimaru nor four eyes could hurt me as long as Sakon was there.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. It's just...well, that smirk. I was just reminded of...you know."

"I'm sorry," he said after he nodded. He knew who I meant: our "master". Picking the mug back up, he handed it to me and said, "Here. Drink the rest. It'll make you feel better."

I drank some more of the hot chocolate. He was right; it was helping my mood. "Thanks, Sakon." I sighed, the fear slowly dissipating into the air. "What is this?" I asked, poking one of the fluffy things.

"It's a marshmallow. It's pretty much just sugar." I popped one in my mouth, finding I liked the taste of these too. How could this drink have gotten any better? I looked up at Sakon smiling at me, noticing for the first time that his eyes weren't completely black but were instead a very dark shade of brown. And there was that odd urge again, though this time I knew instantly what it was. I wanted to kiss him. Yes, I know. I think I'm going crazy too. Love apparently makes people do stupid things, or at least that's what I've heard. But...god, I wanted to kiss him so badly! I almost did, too, but I stopped myself from acting on it. Maybe I was being paranoid, but I suddenly thought that Oro- **Lord** Orochimaru or four eyes were spying on us. I mean, sure, they already knew about us, but I didn't need to make it even more obvious. The urge was gone as quickly as it appeared, the mood killed by my constant fears. When would I ever be able to just act on my impulses without worrying that it would haunt me later? Knowing my luck, probably never.

After we ate, we wandered around the village some more, just simply enjoying each other's company. Night feel quicker than we wanted it to, and with the night came the cold. We ended up getting a room to stay for the night. And before anyone decides to be nosy, there was two beds and we each slept in one. I don't know why anyone would want to know this, but it's too late now. I somehow managed to fall asleep, though it only felt like five minutes later that Sakon was shaking me awake. "Tayuya, wake up."

"Just let me sleep," I muttered, trying to shove Sakon away. I just wanted to sleep in peace for once in my life without the nightmares taking over my night.

"Come on," he pleaded. "You'll love this, I promise."

I groaned, finally opening my eyes and pushing myself out of the bed. "Fine. But if it isn't worth it, I'm punching you in the face for waking me up." He only grinned in response, dragging me behind him. What the hell could it be that he wanted to show me that he hadn't been able to before? As we stepped outside, I stopped, staring up at the sky. Little white flecks were falling from the sky, almost like rain, but slower and prettier. "What is this?"

"It's called snow. Look over there," he added, pointing. The white stuff, the snow, was laying on the ground too, covering the grass with a sheet of white. For some reason, it reminded me of the marshmallows. I touched the snow on the ground, surprised at how cold it was. Picking up a handful, I watched it slowly turn into water in my hands. Was this just cold water then? How could something as simple as water form something so pretty? I picked up another handful, forming it into a ball with my hands. Grinning mischievously, I took the ball of snow...and threw it in Sakon's face. He flinched back at first, but then he started to laugh. "Snowball fight!" he yelled, grabbing some snow himself and throwing it in my face. We were acting like children, but so what? Neither of us wanted to lose this game, no matter how stupid or childish it was. Plus, we kind of were still children, even if our childhoods had been stolen from us. All we wanted was to have one day to forget all of that and just be the children we were meant to be.

Eventually we just laid in the snow, exhausted. By this point, the snow had stopped, and the sky was clear with the stars shining in the night sky. Neither of us won, but we hadn't lost either. "That was actually kinda fun," I mumbled, rolling through the snow so that I was laying next to him. I could feel the snow matting up in my hair as I did this, but I had been too lazy to actually get up and walk over.

"Yeah, it was." He was still panting, but he was also grinning like a maniac. "Especially since I won."

"Did not," I objected.

"Did too. I got you one more time."

My response to that claim came in the form of snow covering his face. "There. Now we're tied."

"Okay, fine. I'll take it," he responded as he wiped the snow off his head. He looked up at the sky, his grin widening, if that was even possible. "Look!"

I looked up as well and gasped. Up in the sky were shimmering waves of green light, swirling among the sea of stars. It was by far the most amazing thing I had ever seen. "Okay, that's pretty damn cool."

"It's called an aurora. You know, legends say that children conceived under one are born good looking, smart, and lucky," he added with a mischievous smile.

"Ugh, subtlety really isn't your forte. And no, we're not doing that. That's just…" I trailed off, making a noise of disgust as I shuddered. "We're only thirteen, for goodness sake. And I'm pretty damn sure Lord Orochimaru would kill us."

He looked away, embarrassed. "Yeah, you're...probably right."

"Probably?"

"Okay, you're right. I'd rather not die."

"Should we, um, head inside? It's kind of cold out. And I'm tired."

"Yeah. Same." We made our way back inside. I probably looked like a mess, but I couldn't have cared less. I had gotten to spend the entire day with my precious muff muff without any asshole interference. This had been the best day I had in a long time, and definitely the best since I had first been found by Oroch- **Lord** Orochimaru. If only every day could have been like this. Just the two of us, enjoying each other without a care in the world. I smiled at the thought, falling asleep. I didn't even bother to worry what Lord Orochimaru would do to us when we came back. All that occupied my thoughts was my beautiful, precious muff muff laying beside me, fast asleep, with his arms wrapped protectively around me. He looked so adorable as he slept peacefully. I could feel myself blushing profusely as I stared at his perfect face. Before I could change my mind, I quickly kissed him on the lips before hiding my face in chest.

...oh shit. I'd tell you more but I think I hear Oro- **Lord** Orochimaru coming. I better get going now before he sees this.

* * *

 **This is probably the sweetest thing I have ever written. Even in Tayuya standards.**

 **Before anyone says anything, the muff muff nickname is not supposed to have some terrible connotation like Urban Dictionary says it does. I swear I was an innocent little cinnamon roll when I came to start using it, and there is an actual reason behind it! That comes later in the original story, though, and I don't want to spoil that chapter because that one is the second sweetest thing now that I have written. All I am saying is that it involves _muff_ ins.**

 **It was honestly so much fun writing this, especially because at times, it seemed like I wasn't even writing the story but rather telling it. I swear some of the events I didn't even think of until I was writing them out, from the hot chocolate to the snowball fight to the snow in Sakon's face at the end of said snowball fight. The only two things I actually had planned before writing them was him buying her flute and her seeing snow for the first time. It was a nice change of pace to break away from all the terrible things that go on in _Discordant Tritone_ and probably every other fanfic I write.**

 **So, sometimes when I'm writing, my fingers type before my brain thinks the sentence out. This includes things like forgetting to put the Lord in front of Orochimaru's name. Normally, I'll fix these mistakes by myself, but for this story I decided it would be better if I had Tayuya correcting herself as she's writing this. All of them except the last one were part of this.**

 **Those legends about children conceived under the aurora are actually from Japanese culture...or at least that's what the site I found said. Whether it's a real myth or not, I don't know, but I'm not claiming to be an expert when it comes to Japanese culture. There are a lot of cool legends about the Northern Lights, and it was hard to use just one.**

 **Well, I'm gonna go celebrate the holidays now, so merry Christmas everyone! I'll be back for the new year with a new chapter of _Discordant Tritone_ and a (not so) new me!**


End file.
